“One of them said if I did not give my dog to them he was going to stab me. I did not see a knife.”

She described one of the men as ginger and quite skinny and the second man as large build, dark haired, with curly hair but shaved on the sides.

A police spokesperson said: “Sussex Police are investigating a report that at about 12.30pm on Thursday (January 3) two men tried to snatch a German Shepherd dog from a woman who was walking with it along a footpath off Swanborough Drive, Brighton, towards the racecourse.

“The dog bit one of the men, who was coming away from the racecourse, on the arm so he let go and the woman ran home with the dog. She and the dog were unharmed.”